In our section "Art Trek" we went to meet the creators who were at the peak of their work on the installations for Midburn 2023. We heard from them about the creative process and also a bit about their feelings regarding the fact that their creations remained unfinished. The stories are shared here with the community in an effort to breathe some life into these works after all.
The story of the uninstalled installation: Spiderburn
Barak Avni grows snakes at his home. For fun. We have no way of connecting this to the rest of the article, but we felt you needed to know this. Perhaps except for the fact that he planned to bring another creepy creature to Midburn 2023. A giant spider that is also a guitar. Oh, and it's also a piece of jewelry. That is, a silversmith built its head which emits smoke from the teeth. Wait... and it has small spiders on its knees. And LEDs. LEDs for sure. So far, it's somewhat reasonable.
"What?"
"I did an experiment. I connected thick and long strings to a guitar pickup and tried to pluck them. The moment it worked and sounds were heard, I knew it was going to be part of the installation."
Barak initially thought about a small installation that could move from event to event compactly. But after its butt took shape (meaning the spider), he realized that if he wanted a spider in proportion, it would have to be something big.
"I didn't want to build a 'wow' installation. I wanted to build an installation that does something." His fantasy was that the spider would be a space for spontaneous jams. He already imagined Tomer joining with his saxophone to the couple strumming on the giant guitar strings, including keyboards. Fantasies are a fleeting thing. Especially in times like these...
The work on the installation began somewhere in July, the moment it was officially announced that there would be an event. Raz Nitzan, who was part of the creation of “the Mind fishing - קסדעת”, was there from the first moment. Yaara Kozak is the mentioned silversmith, and Itay Feingold helped with covering and designing the body with an iron mesh. Barak is an iron artist, and iron embodies his self-expression. Therefore, most of the work on the spider is welding work. But Barak had no more than one welding machine, which means all the work was on him - several months of a third of a full-time job in volunteering. An installation of over 100 kg. It's heavy. Not the weight. The work, the project. His colleague, who works with iron, told him that he was taking on a project that seemed impossible in the allocated time frame. And he already thought about giving up.
But then the approval came from the Art Fund. The installation received funding. Barak relied on recycled materials. He took springs from Audiophile, used glass balls, and gear wheels from a motorcycle workshop. So it's not about huge sums. But the approval conveyed a different message. "If Midburn believes in me, I also believe in me," he said to himself and entered into intensive work.
On 6/10, the team met for a creation day. That day, the map of the city was published. The next day, he got up early and thought about where to place the installation. At that hour, "thunders" were heard and an alarm sounded. From a state of 130% work, everything crashed. Silence. Desolation. No mission. No role. Barak is one of the people who feel lost without these things. "I felt that the association cared for the artists and didn't throw us to the dogs," he said when he mentioned that amidst all the crap, he got back everything he spent on the installation. Not everyone disappears in times of crisis.
It was fun to talk with Barak and to remember the beauty of our community (as he said). "I was extinguished for more than a month. The Unplugged was the first time I allowed myself to have fun. I told myself that if they take the routine from me, they win. In the Burn, I learned to uplift people. It's not hypocrisy. It's about doing good. From there, the Helmet (קסדעת) was born." And what makes the community like this? Barak says that people are willing to bust their asses for someone else's installation. But that doesn't mean you have to judge them if they don't. If you require people to fulfill a commitment that doesn't suit them, they will flee. Give them freedom, and you'll receive commitment. Or not. And even that, you'll accept with compassion and love.
"Everyone has their own 100%. You need to understand that even if someone invested less than you, they still gave their 100%. You need to respect that. An important lesson I learned in the Burn."
Now The Spider stands rusting outside the workshop in Ness Ziona, in his parents' yard. "The greatest pain is that I couldn't create this experience for people. I really hope we'll see it at the next Midburn. It needs to see the light." He brought its head to Burnerot so that at least part of it could fulfill its purpose.
If the installation could talk?
"It would say thank you to me. I gave it my soul. I loved it every moment. To every part of it, I dedicated myself. The legs, the knees, the body. Thank you for not giving up."
Anything else?
"I always say: everything that can go wrong, will, but in the end, it works out."
Not sure you can say that this time. But time will tell. Maybe, with the perspective of time, in a reality where every moment is temporary but there is a sequence of moments, we can still say that in the end, it succeeded.
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